Illinois State University’s track and field teams set three meet records and won multiple event titles at the Gibson Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on April 19. The Redbirds also finished competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational in California with several strong performances.
The results highlight Illinois State Redbirds’ ongoing competitiveness in NCAA Division I events, as they continue to build on their athletic achievements. According to the official website, Illinois State Redbirds competes in NCAA Division I events across various regions.
At the Gibson Track and Field Complex, Isabelle Hemmen cleared 3.99 meters to win the pole vault, breaking both her program’s fifth-best mark and the previous meet record of 3.95 meters. The men’s 4×100 meter relay team—Reece Curtis, Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr., Jaiden Reed, and Zach Paul—set a new meet record with a time of 39.92 seconds, moving them up to third all-time in school history. Nwagwu also won the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 20.85 seconds for another meet record.
Other notable finishes included Paul winning the 100-meter dash (10.17), while Jake Welch, Evan Watson, Reed, and Nwagwu took first place in the men’s 4×400 meter relay (3:12.41). Seth Nelson claimed victory in men’s pole vault (5.21m), Aidan Wyzard jumped a personal best of 7.27m for second place in long jump invitational section—now tenth all-time for Illinois State—and Rex Hallam won his collegiate long jump section (6.90m).
At California’s Bryan Clay Invitational, Becca Heitzig placed eighth out of 119 finishers in the women’s 1500 meters with a time of 4:14.76—a school record improvement—while Pauline Schedler moved from third to second all-time at Illinois State by finishing fourteenth (4:15.89). Mattison Plummer advanced from seventh to sixth place historically after running a personal best of 4:23.92.
The Redbirds will compete next at Arkansas’ John McDonnell Invitational on April 24.
According to the official website, Illinois State Redbirds benefits from resources such as news updates, schedules and rosters that bolster its athletic community as well as facilities like OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center for student-athlete preparation; it is also linked to Illinois State University through its programs and receives support from initiatives like the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund for recruitment efforts.
